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"…throughout the evening the musicians showed themselves able to think, breathe and enter as one."
- Paul Griffiths
The New York Times
"… a superb group of musicians, who not only demonstrate extraordinary technical skill, they clearly understand the distinctive traditions from which this music comes."
- Fanfare Magazine
"Each is a performing artist in his or her own right and together they make music which literally sparkles. Technically and musically, there's nothing out of their reach, and their precision is breathtaking."
- The Oak Ridger
History
Svjetlana Kabalin
Kathy Halvorson
Amy Zoloto
Erik Holtje
Zohar Schondorf
Hailed by the New York Times for "…its venturesome programming and stylishness of performance," the Sylvan Winds has appeared under the auspices of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and the Caramoor International Music Festival. Chosen to perform at the NY Governor's Arts Awards, the ensemble has presented imaginative and scintillating programs of chamber works for winds in such places as Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Cape Cod and Skaneateles Festivals, Rutgers University's Summerfest, Amherst College, the Chicago Chamber Music Society and the Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, Korea. They have recorded for the Koch Classics and CRI/New World labels and have enjoyed collaborations with such distinguished artists as Gerard Schwarz, Ransom Wilson, the Guarneri String Quartet and pianist Claude Frank. The Sylvan Winds celebrated their 30th Anniversary during the 2007-08 season.
History
The SYLVAN WINDS, an integral part of New York City's cultural offerings, has earned both critical and audience acclaim for its spirited performances and innovative programming. Exploring the entire body of work of chamber music for wind instruments, it is the only group of its kind to present an annual concert series in New York City.
Inaugurated at the historic Church of St. Luke in-the-Fields in Greenwich Village, the ensemble, will celebrate its 30th Anniversary of. during the 2008-09 season.
Following a concert sponsored by the Carnegie Hall Corporation in 1982, the Sylvan Winds performs regularly in Weill Recital Hall. That summer also marked the beginning of their affiliation with Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, presenting outdoor pre-concert wind serenades, Avery Fisher Hall pre-concert programs, and participation with the Festival's winds in performances of the Mozart Gran Partita (K. 361/370a) and Handel's original orchestration of the Royal Fireworks music.
Established as one of New York's most versatile chamber music ensembles, the group has also appeared at Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall and Symphony Space, and was chosen to perform at the Governor's Arts Awards. They have also performed at the White Mountains, Cape Cod and Caramoor International Music Festivals, have toured major university and chamber music series nationally including Amherst College, the Chicago Chamber Music Society, Rutgers University's Summerfest, and the University of the Pacific, as well as performing in Korea, including the Sejong Cultural Center. Featured as the chamber ensemble in-residence at the White Mountains Festival, they have been heard on New York City radio stations WQXR and WNYC, WGBH in Boston, Minnesota Public Radio and on National Public Radio's Performance Today. Koch International Classics released the ensemble's debut recording of French chamber music for winds.
Noted for a wide range and breadth of repertory in delightful and intriguing programs of standard and contemporary works, they have presented a number of New York, United States and world premières by Gustav Holst, Gunther Schuller, David Chaitkin, Max Lifchitz, Arthur Weisberg and Robert Dick. Invited to perform as part of the Cutting Edge concerts in New York City, their CD The Sylvan Winds Plays American Composers with works by Bruce Adolphe, George Tsontakis, and David Chaitkin, features Guarneri String Quartet founder Michael Tree in the solo part of Etler's Concerto for Violin and Wind Quintet, and was released on CRI (now New World).
The Sylvan Winds have garnered numerous commissioning, recording and general support grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Meet the Composer. Recent initiatives include exploring music from different cultures - notably "Sounds of the Americas," "Russian Nights," "Scandinavian Sounds," and "Croatian Composers" – as well as a historical series of concerts "From the Library of Georges Barrère." Many of the works they perform are written for a variety of instrumental groupings and have included collaborations with such illustrious guest artists as conductors Gerard Schwarz and Ransom Wilson, the Guarneri String Quartet, pianist Claude Frank, harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper, mezzo-soprano Wendy White, narrator Robert Sherman, actor Louis Zorich, and the American Brass Quintet.
Artist Biographies
Born to parents from the former Yugoslavia, Ms. Kabalin was presented in her New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall as a winner of the Artists International Competition. One of five Americans invited to participate in the first International Flute Competition in Kobe, Japan, Ms. Kabalin appeared as a soloist with Alexander Schneider's New York String Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and Washington's Kennedy Center. A charter member of the Sylvan Winds, she has served as principal flute with the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, the New Jersey Ballet Orchestra, and the Stamford and Queens Symphony Orchestras, and has played for the PBS-TV Great Performances production of Kern's Show Boat. Ms. Kabalin has also performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York City Opera, the New Jersey and Westfield Symphony Orchestras and the Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra. A member of the Hofstra University faculty, Ms. Kabalin also teaches in the Juilliard Music Advancement Program, and has taught at the Simon's Rock campus of Bard College and at Rutgers University. She has recorded for the Desto, Vanguard, Koch and CRI labels.
A Wisconsin native, Kathy studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and at the Royal Conservatory in the Netherlands with Bart Schneemann. There she performed for six years with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Calefax Reed Quintet, and many others. She has also worked with the Mingus Epitaph, jazz bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz, and Bjork, and has also performed in New York City with the Argento Ensemble, The Jupiter Chamber Players, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Speculum Musicae, and others. Kathy has also played principal oboe with the Berkshire Opera and the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and is Principal Oboe with Opera2005 in Cork, Ireland. She recently recorded on baroque oboe with Toronto's Aradia Ensemble, and on 12 CDs as Principal Oboe with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra, for the Naxos record label. "No praise is sufficient for the oboe playing of Kathy Halvorson" – Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe.
A native of Chicago, Ms. Zoloto is an active freelance clarinetist in New York City. Prior to coming to New York, she played in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for five years and with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for two years. While earning a degree from DePaul University, she was a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where she had the opportunity to perform and play chamber music with such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. Ms. Zoloto has performed much new music, including a premiere performance and recording of Night Bloom, a clarinet quintet by composer Stella Sung. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Florida in Gainesville and has spent past summers performing with the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado, the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and the Bard Music Festival. She has played with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the New York City Opera Orchestra, the St. Luke's Chamber Players, and most recently, with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Vail, Colorado.
Erik began studying the bassoon at the Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan and during this time was an A.R.T.S. prize-winner. He continued his studies at Northwestern University and finished at Juilliard where he received both his Bachelors and Masters in music performance. Erik has participated in the Texas Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival (Japan), the Vermont Mozart Festival and Crested Butte Festival (Colorado). He has been principal bassoon of the Veracruz Philharmonic (Mexico) and currently is a freelance musician in New York performing with such groups as The Knights, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New York Chamber Soloists, the Metro Chamber Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic. Erik has toured with the Knights in Germany, the official Star Wars tour throughout the United States, and plays on Broadway, including Phantom. He has completed a DVD and two recordings with The Knights for the Sony and Ancalagon labels. The Knights will perform at the 2011 Ravinia Festival celebrating the release of their new Schubert CD.
Born in Haifa, Israel Mr. Schondorf served in the Israeli Army Band from 1989-92. With an Israeli-American Cultural Foundation Scholarship from 1986-1992, Mr. Schondorf continued his studies in New York at the Juilliard School of Music. Graduating in 1995, he was appointed Associate Principal horn in the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 1997 when he was appointed Principal horn in the Israeli Symphony Opera Orchestra. While in Israel, he won an Oreq Communication award for his performance as Principal Horn in the Classical Winter in Jerusalem Music Festival in 1993 and also played with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. Mr. Schondorf relocated to New York in 2001 and is now Associate Principal Horn of the American Symphony Orchestra, and performs with ACO, the Stamford Symphony and Westchester Philharmonic Orchestras and the Bard Music Festival. In 2004, Mr. Schondorf was invited to perform with the Bavarian Radio Symphony under Loren Maazel on their highly acclaimed tour of the United States. Formerly a member of the "La Boheme on Broadway" and the 2005 Tony and Grammy award winning "Spamalot"orchestras, as well as "The Little Mermaid". He currently performs in "The Addams Family".
